Clinton appoints three blacks to White House staff positions

Jet, March 3, 1997

Thurgood Marshall Jr. is among three Blacks who President Bill Clinton recently appointed to White House staff posts. Marshall Jr., son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, was named assistant to the president and Cabinet secretary. He is the first Black to serve as Cabinet secretary. As assistant to the president, he is also the highest-ranking Black in the White House.

He recently served as deputy counsel and director of legislative affairs in the Office of the Vice President.

Alexis Herman served as assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Liaison during Clinton's first term. She is a candidate for secretary of labor.

Clinton also named Robert (Ben) Johnson as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director for public liaison. Johnson previously served as special assistant to the President and associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. He also served on the staff of Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry before he joined the White House staff.

Clinton appointed Minyon Moore as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director for political affairs. She previously served as national political director for the Democratic National Committee and was a senior official on Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns.